Grits
07-13-2010, 10:13 AM
Always enjoy reading about the work, the skill of Bob Duncan. He's the best, and one of the sport's greatest assets.
This is a feature piece at the TimesUnion on Duncan, former NYRA gate starter, now consultant.
Aided by his team of assistants each morning, he works getting horses their gate cards. Of particular note in the 17 photo gallery shots is the second--of Duncan and a content and trusting Quality Road, shot by B.Livingston.
Complete story at: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStorie...N#ixzz0tZO5Dg5i (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=949559&category=REGION#ixzz0tZO5Dg5i)
An excerpt:
"Natural is a funny word to use, because there's nothing natural about the starting gate," Duncan says during a break. "But there is something very natural about horses and humans working together and adapting, which horses are able to do. If ever there was a symbiotic relationship on Earth, it's one between horses and humans."
That relationship guides Duncan -- son of a horse trainer, former model (he was the Vantage cigarette man in 1985) and starting-gate worker since the late 1960s -- as he and his crew work with as many as 100 horses each morning. The vast majority are 2-year-olds new to the track but expected to race at Saratoga when the meet opens July 23. The crew's work, which started in April, is part of the massive, behind-the-scenes effort under way to prepare for the 40 days of racing, a focal point of the Capital Region summer.
No one has a more critical job than Duncan and his assistants. Every race begins at the starting gate, and if horses refuse to go in, there will be no racing. "We're kidding ourselves if we say horses love to race," Duncan says. "Given a choice, they'd rather hang out with their friends and eat grass. But they're willing to race. It's a job. And I'm all right with that job, because horses have survived to this day because of their relationship with people and the jobs they've had."
This is a feature piece at the TimesUnion on Duncan, former NYRA gate starter, now consultant.
Aided by his team of assistants each morning, he works getting horses their gate cards. Of particular note in the 17 photo gallery shots is the second--of Duncan and a content and trusting Quality Road, shot by B.Livingston.
Complete story at: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStorie...N#ixzz0tZO5Dg5i (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=949559&category=REGION#ixzz0tZO5Dg5i)
An excerpt:
"Natural is a funny word to use, because there's nothing natural about the starting gate," Duncan says during a break. "But there is something very natural about horses and humans working together and adapting, which horses are able to do. If ever there was a symbiotic relationship on Earth, it's one between horses and humans."
That relationship guides Duncan -- son of a horse trainer, former model (he was the Vantage cigarette man in 1985) and starting-gate worker since the late 1960s -- as he and his crew work with as many as 100 horses each morning. The vast majority are 2-year-olds new to the track but expected to race at Saratoga when the meet opens July 23. The crew's work, which started in April, is part of the massive, behind-the-scenes effort under way to prepare for the 40 days of racing, a focal point of the Capital Region summer.
No one has a more critical job than Duncan and his assistants. Every race begins at the starting gate, and if horses refuse to go in, there will be no racing. "We're kidding ourselves if we say horses love to race," Duncan says. "Given a choice, they'd rather hang out with their friends and eat grass. But they're willing to race. It's a job. And I'm all right with that job, because horses have survived to this day because of their relationship with people and the jobs they've had."